EVERY Guyanese Christmas is memorable for its gatherings around the Christmas tree, dinner tables overflowing with all manner of delectable treats – pepper pot, turkey, duck, ham, baked chicken and other goodies, not forgetting black, fruit and sponge cakes.
Family members, relatives and friends would be spreading good cheer with bottles of Guyanese manufactured liquor or Mama’s or Papa’s homemade concoction, which usually loosens the tongue and propels a potential comic or two to centre stage to ‘take control of things’.
Christmas is a time when shopping is the order of the day, decorations adorn the halls in our homes, and every door or passageway is bedecked with a new blind or curtain, even if unnecessarily.

Forgotten significance

Often, as we celebrate this season, we forget its true significance and get carried away with materialism, putting on a show competing with our neighbours in decorating our homes.  
We rarely, if ever, spare a thought for the less fortunate, the homeless, the sick and the shut-ins.                                                                                                                                                                     
The true joy of Christmas is sharing and giving to others, even as we prepare meals of pepper pot, garlic pork, cook-up, Spanish and fried rice; bake chicken, turkey, ham and a wide assortment of cakes; curry duck, and clap the ever popular roti and dhal puri.
For me, this season is one which I enjoy with family members and friends, as we give thanks for mercies obtained amidst making New Year’s resolutions which in hindsight would mostly be honoured in the breach.

Customs

The season of Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus the Christ. It is generally celebrated on December 25 as a religious and cultural holiday by billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season and initiates the twelve days of Christmastide.
Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world’s nations. It is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians, and is an integral part of the year-end holiday season.
Many of the popular celebratory customs associated with Christmas in various countries have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of Christmas cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly.
In addition, several figures known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus, among other names, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season.   
Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activities among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key marketing period for retailers and businesses.
The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to all!